Joseph and Jail -- Hope in the Midst of Sorrow

What follows is a letter I recently sent to a young man in jail. Bad choices led him into that sad place. I pray that good choices will lead him out.

We prayed for you in church last night. We are hoping for the best for you.

I am reminded of a famous speech given in Great Britain in 1941. Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited Harrow School to hear the traditional songs he had sung there as a youth, as well as to speak to the students. This became one of his most quoted speeches.

Churchill stood before the students and said, "Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up." Then he sat down. End of speech.

That is my message to you. Jail is a depressing place. Losing your freedom is terrible. But I challenge you to make the best of it. Bloom where you are planted, even in a very harsh environment. I pray you get out soon. But, until you do, hang in there. Do not give up.

There are folks in the Bible that went to prison, including Jesus (for a short time, then they killed him). You find Peter in jail, (Acts 5) and Paul and Silas (Acts 16), and many others. (Heb. 11)

One prisoner who made the best of his situation was Joseph in Genesis. The Old Testament patriarch Joseph was the 11th-born of Jacob's Children, oldest of the two sons of Jacob with Rachel (Genesis 30:23-24). Joseph was to fill a vital role in the history of ancient Israel.

At about age 17, Joseph found himself facing the jealousy and hatred of his brothers - "Now Israel [i.e. Jacob] loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe [KJV calls it the coat of many colors] for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him, and could not speak a kind word to him." (Genesis 37:3-4) The family tension became even worse when Joseph told them of a dream that he had in which he was actually ruling over them, and even his parents (Genesis 37:5-11).

Then one day, when Jacob sent Joseph out to see how things were going with his brothers who were tending the sheep near Shechem, they schemed to get rid of him. Most of the brothers wanted to murder him, but Reuben prevented it. Joseph was instead sold for 20 shekels (about 8 ounces) of silver to a group of Midianite merchants who were passing by. (Genesis 37:12-35). Joseph was then taken away by them in a caravan, going into slavery.

The brothers went back to Jacob and told him that Joseph had been devoured by a wild animal. As "proof," they had drenched Joseph's coat in animal blood to show to their father Jacob.

The Midianite merchants had been on their way to the Egyptian market, and once there they sold Joseph as a slave to Potiphar, "one of Pharaoh's officials, and the captain of the guard" (Genesis 37:36). The Lord blessed Potiphar's house for Joseph's sake, and realizing the source of his success, Potiphar eventually made Joseph overseer over his house (Genesis 39:2-6). After that, he house prospered even more. But Potiphar’s wife looked upon Joseph with lustful eyes.

Joseph's situation was soon to take another turn for the worse when he was falsely accused of improper behavior toward his master's wife (Genesis 39:6-19). She wanted him to have sex with her, because he was young and good looking, but he refused to do it, and so she cried rape. For this, he was imprisoned (Genesis 39:20). Once again however, even in jail, Joseph found favor with those in charge, and actually took part in running the place. Amazingly, he was at the same time a prisoner, and the warden (Genesis 39:21-23).

Joseph's best break finally came when, with the help of God, he correctly interpreted a number of dreams (Genesis 40:1-23, 41:1-40), which accurately included a warning of a coming famine. For this, he was released from prison and given a very high-ranking position in the Egyptian Kingdom. Joseph actually became the governor of all Egypt, second only to Pharaoh (Genesis 41:41-44). Joseph was given the name of Zaphnath-paaneah, meaning governor and preserver of life. He married Asenath, the daughter of the priest of On, and they had 2 sons - Ephraim and Manasseh. Joseph was by then about 30 years old.

The great famine happened just as Joseph said it would, but Egypt was well-prepared for it. They had vast store houses full of grain, more than enough for their own nation. They even had sufficient supply to enable them to sell some to neighboring nations, including Joseph's brothers who came to Egypt to buy food. God gave Joseph the chance to show forgiveness and love.

Joseph was not immediately recognized by them, but after a bit of psychological revenge upon them, he revealed his identity (Genesis chapters 42-45). Although Joseph had the power to imprison or even execute them, he forgave them for what they had done to him. Joseph recognized that God had been the author of the entire series of events (Genesis 45:7).

Jacob and his entire family then went down to live in Egypt to escape the severe famine in Canaan. They were settled in the land of Goshen, where they would remain, eventually as slaves, for the next 400 years until the Exodus. Here we meet Moses, and he killed an Egyptian and was in exile for 40 years before the time came for God to use him to free the Hebrew people!

Consider, that prison was a road to power for Joseph, and it was all in God’s plan for his life. Joseph had favor with God and things changed miraculously for him, but it did take time. Still, there is much hope in the story of Joseph, the prisoner who became a powerful leader.

I hope you can take heart in the story of Joseph. We are thinking of you and hoping for you.

IN CHRIST,

Pastor Glenn

Scriptures to Read and Consider : Ps. 91, Ps. 37, Ps. 103, John 10:10, Proverbs 3, Philippians 2:5-11, Philippians 4, John 3.